Kalzium ist nicht alles.

Elevation of cerebral Mg2+ with a novel orally delivered ionophore, magnesium threonate, enhances cognition in young and old rats over a 12-24 day treatment interval, as outlined in a paper by Slutsky et al. in this issue of Neuron. Despite both Mg2+ and Zn2+ blocking the NMDA receptor channel, sustained extracellular Mg2+ elevation mimics sustained synaptic Zn2+ concentrations by increasing hippocampal NR2B expression and bouton density.